Robert Kennedy: Electoral Commissioner resigns after The West Australian revealed Parliament to force him out

Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy has quit after 24 hours of high drama, despite initially defying Parliament’s threat to push him out. MPs were poised to vote on Tuesday to remove Mr Kennedy — who had been on leave since the gaffe-prone State election in March, when polling booths ran out of ballot papers and some voters were turned away. However, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas foiled that plan. The Government was left to change tack after Mr Zempilas took the position that the fallout from the election debacle was the Government’s mess and the Opposition shouldn’t do Labor’s dirty work. It’s understood Mr Kennedy tendered his resignation to Governor Chris Dawson late on Tuesday, as the Government was weighing up its next move. The Opposition was first to break the news to the public. “I welcome the decision by the WA Electoral Commissioner to resign,” Nationals Leader Shane Love said. “This is something I have consistently called for following the fall out of the State Election. “The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) has been without the stable leadership needed to implement the findings of the recent Special Inquiry into the planning and delivery of the 2025 State Election.” A noon deadline revealed by The West Australian was initially ignored by Mr Kennedy, as the cross-party agreement to sack him collapsed at the eleventh hour. Labor and the Liberals were poised to vote in favour of a motion by Mr Love to remove Mr Kennedy. However, Mr Zempilas had other plans. “They have employed him, and it’s their job to work through any contractual arrangements with him that they see fit,” Mr Zempilas said. “This is a matter for the Government.” The problem was solved for the Government when Mr Kennedy relented but he will still be paid for another eight weeks, with his resignation effective from January 30. “Mr Kennedy has served the Western Australian community as a public servant for 30 years,” Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael said. “I would like to thank Mr Kennedy for his service to the community. “The appointment of a new Electoral Commissioner and Deputy Electoral Commissioner will be made in consultation with other parliamentary parties in due course.” Earlier, the Premier stopped short of publicly calling for Mr Kennedy to step down, or confirming that plans were being hatched to remove him. “We are undertaking a range of processes at the moment,” Roger Cook said. “Only Parliament can remove an electoral commissioner. It’s a decision for the Parliament, not the government. “I’m not going to go into the conversations which have taken place between public sector commissioner and the Electoral Commission. “These are sensitive matters.” He dismissed claims that Mr Kennedy was being made a scapegoat for the election chaos after an independent inquiry found that funding requests were not met. “It’s very, very clear the practice that the Electoral Commission undertakes, and has undertaken for a number of elections,” Mr Cook said. “They liaise with the Department of Treasury and Finance and they advance in the event that they have extra expenses. “That’s the way it’s always been.” Mr Kennedy had been on leave since March. His tenure in the $289,000-a-year job wasn’t due to expire until March 2028. He’d been fighting to keep the job and hired lawyers, after prominent Perth lawyer Malcolm McCusker’s report in August blamed budget cuts for “completely inadequate” staffing of polling booths and urged a reconsideration of outsourced recruitment and training of electoral workers. Acting Electoral Commissioner Dennis O’Reilly, who has been doing the job since March, is keen to take it on full-time. The Government declined to say whether it had given Mr O’Reilly any assurances about his future.